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Several Swiss people we have met during our 30 years in Switzerland have visited Kristinehamn and Värmland. We have helped them find fun excursions and activities. After early retirement and during the Covid-19 pandemic, we developed the idea for Tallevika. We created Tallevika.com and various social media channels to make it easier for people abroad with an interest in Sweden to take the step to go there. We have expanded our network of contacts in Kristinehamn and the surrounding area, which has been exciting and given us a lot of new information. We publish pictures and videos of things we like that are not the typical tourist destinations. We choose places where people are not tired of tourists and there are exciting things to do. We are not only targeting Swiss people, but since we are spoiled with everything Switzerland has to offer, we try to find things that are not available there but still offer quality. In Sweden, you can often get by with English, but since we are Swedes who emigrated to Switzerland, we speak not only Swedish, German, Swiss German, English, and some French. We can easily help out where needed and share our experiences of living in two of what we believe are the best countries in the world.
Our Story
Our life started in Sweden
1962
This year both Carl-Henrik and Inger Sjölund were born in Sweden. We met at the age of 19 and moved together when we started our university studies. After finishing our studies, we lived and worked in different small to medium sized. We got 3 children during this period of life which was mainly characterized by managing family and work.
1982
Carl-Henriks parents bought a small summerhouse built 1932 in Kristinehamn. To be able to visit them and travel easy in Sweden with 3 children we bought a caravan.
1994
In January 1994 we took our Caravan and emigrated to Switzerland with our 3 children Sophia, Richard and Eva-Maria. With the age of 32 we settled down in Port in Biel-Seeland where we enjoyed life, met nice people, and stayed for 25 years. It was not the plan to stay so long, but Carl-Henrik had fun developing a company in a Swedish industrial group. Inger enjoyed taking care of our Family and home and being an active parent representative in their school close to our house. Together we explored new places in our caravan and used it to go back to Sweden Every year since than we go back to Kristinehamn and enjoy the lake and everything else the town offers.
We became Swiss
2002
After a long process we all got our Swiss Passports 2002. We applied because we liked Switzerland as our home. Luckily, we could keep our Swedish citizenship which makes it easier to travel between the countries. We travelled a lot between Switzerland and Sweden during this time and everywhere we got we played tennis. We also brought Swiss friends to Sweden, rented a sailing yacht together and showed them the beautiful pines on the thousands of islands in the Archipelago.
2010
A few years before we found the very good Collie Besse in Dresden and 2010 we started to breed young Collie dogs with her at our home in Port. We adapted our garden and made it to a bonsai Pine-garden for dogs, probably the only one in the world. We have been very selective and thorough in everything we do to get the best possible dogs for the selected owners. This has brought happiness to both the dogs, the new owners and us. Our experiences with this have also influenced us to use the same philosophy in Tallevika Travel.
2015
We started to restore our small summerhouse in Sweden. The reason was that the town council had a vision to upgrade the city and get new people in. The complete area along the lake with small summerhouses was upgraded and connected to water and modern infrastructure. It was allowed to build bigger, and we started the project to rebuild and extend the house in Kristinehamn. A complex project to handle from Switzerland but it went from a small cottage without water connection to a house where the whole family could meet, and we could live also in the winter.
Now we are ready for Tallevika
2020
During the first Corona wave Carl-Henrik stopped to be employed and we moved to a smaller house closer the nature. We found our new home in Hermiswil close to the beautiful Emmenthaler hiking region. It became our second vacation home. We rebuilt it a bit and adapted it to breed Collies and for a new generation grandchildren. Our children are all married and live with their families in canton Bern but we still ski, play tennis and do long walks together. We started more intensively to explore our favorite regions Emmenthal and Värmland. Whenever it is possible, we meet in our vacation home Tallevika in Kristinehamn, Sweden. During the fantastic summer in Kristinehamn 2021 the idea of Tallevika started to grow. Why not use our knowledge and experience to connect people from the two countries we love and show the best of them?
2023
During the summer, we hosted families who stayed in Kristinehamn for 2-3 weeks, from June to August. We suggested activities based on their family situation and interests. We helped them find suitable accommodation and even participated in some activities ourselves. The guests included couples with dogs, families with children, campers, and people who arrived by car.
2024-25
We have decided to continue this initiative to support individual travel and introduce Swiss people to the highlights of Värmland. It doesn't matter if you travel alone, with your dog, your family, or friends. We can suggest suitable accommodation and activities based on your preferences and the time of year you plan to visit. Welcome!
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